Chaghatai
/ˌtʃɑːɡəˈtaɪ/noun
A literary Turkic language used in Central Asia from roughly the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, or anything associated with the Chagatai Khanate.
Did you know?Chaghatai was the language of major Islamic literary works, including writings by the poet and ruler Ali-Shir Nava’i, who argued that it could rival Persian in expressive power.
Etymological Timeline
13th Century
Mongolian
Čaγatai
“Personal name of Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan; the name’s deeper etymology is uncertain.”
13th–14th Century
Mongolian/Persian
Čaγatai / Chaghatāy
“Name applied to Chagatai Khan, his descendants, and the political territories associated with his dynasty.”
14th–15th Century
Turkic
Çağatay
“Name for the Turkic literary and administrative language developing in Central Asia under Chagatai political influence.”
15th–16th Century
Chaghatai Turkic
Çağatay tili
“The Chaghatai language, literally “the Chaghatai language,” used by Central Asian courts and writers.”
19th Century
English
Chagatai
“English form referring chiefly to the historical Turkic language, its literature, or the Chagatai Khanate.”